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Gladiorka Railway Station
Gladiorka railway station is the railway station serving the town of Gladiorka. It is an important regional station, operated by the RKP East-Sansek as an interchange hub. It is located on the Long Eastern Main Line, at the kilometer point number 79, approximately 93 km south of Tarna. Description The station is situated on the south of Gladiorka, being not immediately in the city center. It has 7 platforms, with platforms number 1 and 2 being the main one with a speed limit of 85 mph (140 km/h) and platforms 6 and 7 are bay platforms. The whole station is electrified by overhead wires, 25 kV 50 Hz AC. It could be noticed that the platform number 5 is leading to the depot and is generally used for locomotive hauled services. The main platforms are long enough to accomodate double I2V sets. There is also an important regional depot nearby, used to store rolling stock for the night. Gladiorka is also a thunderbird hub, meaning that the depot has a rescue locomotive. The station building itself contents a large waiting room, a restaurant, a coffee shop, some shops and a staffed office. Passengers can reach all the platforms thanks to an underground corridor. The station is opened from 5 h 00 to 23 h 45 on weekdays and Saturdays, and from 6 h 00 to 22 h 30 on Sundays. Although being generally considered as a regional station, Gladiorka see each day an increasing number of commuters, coming mainly from the nearest stations. There is also a noticeable amount of people using the station each day to commute to Tarna. There are interchanges with Gladiorka urban bus system and with some limited regional bus lines. History Overview Gladiorka railway station has been first opened in 1851 with the construction of the Long Eastern Main Line. At the time, it only had three platforms. The station only saw steam and diesel services until the end of the twentieth century when electrification of the LEML was completed. During the same time, the station was completely modernised with the addition of four platforms, the rebuilt of the station building and the lengthening of the existing platforms to accomodate longer trains. Accidents & Incidents The station was the place of the first big railway disaster of the country. In 1853, juste two years after the opening of the station, a passenger train, hauled by a steam locomotive, ran into a freight service coming into the opposite direction. 217 people were killed, among whom the drivers of both trains and eight passengers waiting on the platform. Investigations discovered that the freight service was running on the wrong way because of engineering works ahead, and that the signalman that authorised the freight train to run on the wrong side simply forgot that there was another train coming on the opposite direction because he was drunk. He was judged and condemned two years later to death penalty for manslaughter and serious neglicence, being the only man in Ruthenia history that has been condemned for such punishment because of a rail disaster. There were no more important accidents or incidents on the railway, but it is important to notice that Gladiorka railway station was involved in many casualties, generally due to people throwing themselves in front of a passing train. In 2015, the station was unfortunately the attention of the whole country because of the suicide of the mayor of Gladiorka, Viktor Husinov, that has jumped in front of a freight train during peak time, causing several passengers to be shocked among with severe disruptions on the lines. This event was also famous because the then governor of the estat'' ''Sansek, Garek Jerovsen, sayed a few days later that the mayor of Gladiorka "pissed everyone off until the end of his life" relating to the disruptions caused by his suicide. This engenders a large political scandal in the whole Sansek – Garek Jerovsen was a political opponent to Viktor Husinov who was running for governor too – which leads to the departure of Garek Jerovsen. The casualties problem at the station has been now considerably reduced thanks to the 2012 campaign for rail suicide prevention. Services The railway station is operated by the RKP East-Sansek which runs most of the services calling at the station. The station is well served throughout the day, mostly by VRP services that link the station to Xeristoh and Tarna. Railway journeys to this two cities are much quicker than road journeys, making this services being sometimes overused. The RKP East-Sansek operated the following commercial services : *RP Tarna – Gladiorka *RP Gladiorka – Ženskeldava *RP Gladiorka – Silidann via Vežnaja-ank-Sarvatkann *VRP Tarna – Xeristoh *VRP Floeta – Xeristoh Along with the RKP East-Sansek, the RKP operates several IP, I2V and NP services : *IP Terekhristy – Saas-Avlek via Beltina *I2V Floeta – Aeroba via Valkanslav *I2V Molnja – Sarvatkann-Zaboh *NP Floeta – Aeroba *NP Floeta – Akapathea The following grid shows you the complete service pattern : Some IP and I2V services do not stop at the station. It can explain the different number of trains calling at the station for the same service, being northbound or southbound. Anecdote Gladiorka railway station has been known for a while as the coolest big station of the country, a title it has held for many years before it has passed to Hoeldansvell a few years ago. In winter, it is note uncommon to see temperatures falling to -25 °C. Gladiorka is a very windy place too, especially in autumn and winter, making the station very uncomfortable for passengers. To cope with this problem, the RKP built in 2004 a very unusual system of water pipes running juste under the main platforms, feeded with hot water heated by a station boiler. It avoids the platform from being covered with ice and, along with electrical station heaters, manages the coldness of the station. Notes